


Finn enters the stage

by Bagge



Series: Fun & Flirting with Glimmer and Double Trouble [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Cute Kids, Flirting, Fluff, Other, Summer Fair, thespians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28675059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bagge/pseuds/Bagge
Summary: The muse is calling to Finn, the child of Catra and Adora. Sadly, said muse is known scoundrel Double Trouble. It's up to auntie Glimmer to make sure things don't get out of hand.
Relationships: Double Trouble/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Fun & Flirting with Glimmer and Double Trouble [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101665
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	Finn enters the stage

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the same timeline as "Double Trouble in Trouble", some time after the events depicted there. Glimmer and Double Trouble are dating.
> 
> I honestly didn't intend to write anything more about Glimmer's and Double Trouble's dating woes, but then I heard Noelle and Molly joke about Double Trouble being a bad influence on Catra's and Adora's kid Finn and all I could say was "Writing prompt accepted."

The summer fair had come to Brightmoon. Smells and sounds. Stands selling fruit and sweets. People playing games and instruments, frolicking around, having fun or being sick from too much candy. It was a truly splendid day.

In the midst of it all, Finn was trying to take in everything at the same time. They bounced back and forth between the sights, forcing Glimmer, who had promised Catra and Adora a day of their own and was therefor entertaining their somewhat rascally kid for the day, to run to keep up.

"Auntie Glimmer, can I have candy?"

"No, we just had candy. If you eat more you will have a tummy ache."

"Auntie Glimmer, can I ride the horse?"

"No, you might fall off."

"Swift Wind lets me."

"These horses are not Swift Wind."

"Auntie Glimmer, I reeeeeeeeeeally need this toy sword. Can I have it? Pleeeeease."

"I'm not letting you play with swords."

"My moms let me."

"They are not here right now."

Finn sighed. 

Their eyes caught sight of a new marvel.

"Auntie Glimmer, can we see the puppet show."

"Oh, sure, Finn."

The puppet show was a tiny stage with few benches in front of it. A few kids were already sitting there, looking at two dolls who, apparently, tried their very best to not step on a crocodile while being very bad at not stepping at the crocodile. Finn bumped down on a bench and chuckled as the expected mayhem ensued and the dolls fled the crocodile. 

After a few moments a new puppet entered the stage. It was almost entirely made out of sequins and was presented to the audience as Pretty Princess Spangle. Glimmer frowned, and a few of the other adults gave the highly visible (and, yes, sparkly) Queen of Brightmoon a worried glance, but the children howled with laughter as the new character gave an over-the-top performance that ended with the crocodile slinking off stage dressed in a rather fetching tutu. Everyone clapped, including Glimmer (which calmed the other adults).

"Did you like it?" Finn asked.

"I found it interesting. But I must say, I'm much more interested in the puppeteer." She walked up to the little stage and rapped on it. The Princess Spangle puppet shot up.

"Hello!" she said in a squeaky voice. Glimmer rolled her eyes.

"Puppets? Really?"

"No shame being a puppet," the princess character said. "I'm one." It bobbed its head to the side. "But in the end, aren't we all puppets with someone else holding the strings?"

"In your case it's someone's hand in you," Glimmer commented drily, "which makes this a rather inspired metaphor..."

" _GLIMMER_!" The puppeteer's head shot up from behind the stage. It was green with large ears and eyes and an impressive mane of yellow hair. They looked at Glimmer with a scandalized expression. "Not in front of the children."

"Oh? Did you have somewhere else in mind, Double Trouble?" she answered with lofty voice, causing the puppeteer to blush slightly. With a harrumph they emerged fully from the stage and busied themselves putting the dolls away.

"Good to see you again, scoundrel," she said with softer voice. "It's been awhile."

"Same, Sparkles," they answered with a smile. They shared a long look. Glimmer bent forward and gave them a little peck on the cheek.

"Did you enjoy the show?" the puppeteer asked. 

"It was truly inspired."

"It was! By you. You should be flattered." Glimmer laughed.

"I know, and because of that I _am_ flattered. It takes a certain kind of devotion to put that much effort in a five minute long insult."

"Oh, I have much more material for Princess Spangle," the puppeteer shot back. 

"Really! You much give me a private show then. I insist." They bowed.

"As the queen demands, so it shall be."

"I liked the show!" Finn piped up. "The crocodile was funny."

"Oh? It will be glad to hear that." The puppeteer bent forward and stage whispered to Finn: "It has horrible stage fright, you see, so any encouragement is highly appreciated. 

"Thank you!" a hollow voice said from the box where the puppets were put away. Finn gave it a deeply suspicious look.

"Now what is this?" The puppeteer said to Glimmer, indicating Finn. "Did arrow-boy finally hit the bulls eye or is this a surprise gift from Catra?"

"Catra is my mommy!" Finn said proudly. "I have her ears." 

"So I see," Double Trouble said. They hunched down and gave Finn a close scrutiny. Finn recoiled slightly and Double Trouble mimicked their moment. Finn turned their head and Double Trouble did the same. Finn overcame their initial shyness and started to giggle. Double Trouble gave them a pleased grin and morphed their features, changing their ears to those of Finn. Finn gaped.

"That's so cool!"

"I know. I'm very cool."

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves," Glimmer interjected with dry voice. "You are _somewhat_ cool. Sometimes." Double Trouble gave her a faux hurt look.

"Finn, this is Double Trouble. They are not to be trusted. Double Trouble, this is Finn. They are Adora's and Catra's kid." Double Trouble raised an eyebrow.

"My, my. Those are quite some moms you have there, Finn. I had the great pleasure of sharing the stage with Catra back in the day, you know."

"You know my mommy?"

"There was a time when no one knew your mother as well as I did, Kitten." Finn frowned.

"I'm not a kitten?"

"You are not, little one? Perhaps the tail and ears misled me."

"Kittens are baby cats," Finn explained with the patient air of a child who has had to explain a thing to adults many times, and is resigned to have to explain it many times more because adults as a rule are incredibly stupid. "I am not a baby. I'm a _cat person_ , not a _kitten_." Double trouble gave them a scornful look.

"You can't be more than seven years old, kitten."

Finn stood up in their full length.

"Seven years and eight months." Double Trouble gave them a long look.

"Eight months?" Finn nodded.

Double Trouble looked at Glimmer. Glimmer made a confirming nod.

"You can't tell me you believe this little brat, 'auntie Sparkles'," Double Trouble said.

"Seven years and eight months, that's the truth," she answered with a wry smile. Double Trouble's eyes narrowed.

"Wait here." They walked off to a tailor's booth and came back with a measuring tape.

"Come here, kitten." They pointed to a post. Finn eagerly stood up against it. Double Trouble made a show of carefully marking their height and then measure it out with the measuring tape. They looked at it thoughtfully for a while with Finn eagerly hoovering around them.

"Well?"

Double troubled gave Finn a serious look and curtsied to them.

"I owe you an apology, young cat person. You are clearly not a kitten."

"that's OK!" Finn almost burst. Double Trouble's serious demeanour vanished and they fired off a big smile.

"Now when that's settled... want me to tell you a secret about auntie Glitter here?"

Finn's eyes became large as saucers.

"Wait, what secret?" Glimmer asked.

"I can't tell you, darling. It's a secret. Come here!"

They dragged Finn some steps to the side and bent down to whisper something in their ear. Finn looked curious, then shocked, then started to snigger. Double Trouble gave them a satisfied look.

"You do realize you can't tell her about it, though. Right?"

"Of course. I promise," Finn said with a serious voice. Double Trouble smiled faux-sweetly at Glimmer.

"Shall we go?"

"What did you tell them?"

"That's the secret, Sparkles. Sorry! We can never tell." Finn shook their head and put a hand to their mouth. Glimmer glared at them.

"How about some snacks?" Double Trouble casually said, nodding to a vendor selling sticky honey flavored things. Finn nodded eagerly.

"Excellent! Treat yourself to whatever you fancy, young cat person!" Double Trouble extravagantly said, making a flourished gesture. Finn made large eyes again.

"I... can?"

"The world is yours to take!"

"Can I have one of those?" Finn pointed at a lump of nuts and dried fruits held together with honey and melted sugar. Double Trouble nodded at the vendor who handed it to Finn.

"Could I also have... one of these?" a bag of hard candy. another nod.

"And... one of these?" a chocolate chip cookie large as their head. Smile, nod.

Glimmer gave Double Trouble a side glance.

"They will have a terrible tummy ache, you know."

"Will they, now? That sounds like future Finn's problem and none of Double Troubles problems."

"Adora and Catra will not be happy."

"Seems like something they should discuss with their babysitter."

"So you are getting the credit and I have to take the fall?"

"Like the good mark you are, my queen."

"I'm paying, aren't I?"

"How noble of you to offer, Sparkles!" Glimmer rolled her eyes and counted out the coins as Finns dove into their unexpected treasure trove

"I didn't think of you as the kind of person who would like children," 

"What? Because of that corny line about thinking of them falling over. Please, that was not my best material, I admit, but you were so easy to rile up back in those days."

"Well, that and the fact that you are an unapologetic narcissist who only live in the moment. Children takes _work_."

"Sure, if you are a sucker. In tiny doses they are great. You get all the fun, exploring the world through their eyes, and then you hand them off to the chumps raising them until they are up for another show. Kids are the worlds best audience, you know."

"So this is all about you getting admired, then?"

"What isn't? I thought you had that figured out yourself, being the cool aunt and all."

Glimmer didn't meet Double Trouble's eyes. They scoffed.

"GLIMMER! Don't tell me you are the boring, nagging aunt? Oh dear. I'm so disappointed in you."

"I'm cool," Glimmer protested. "I just think it's important with proper..." Double Trouble made a disgusted sound and turned to Finn who was trying to eat all the sweets they had been given at the same time and was making an impressive mess in the process.

"Young cat person. Tell me the truth. Is auntie Glimmer cool?"

Finn looked up at them and hesitated. They knew they had gained a reputation to be a bit 'rowdy' (which was adult-speak for 'too fun for us to handle'), and that people sometimes said they 'took after Catra' in a tone of voice that meant 'stop climbing on the furniture'. But despite that they were a good kid at heart, and the one thing they did not want to do was to hurt anyone's feelings.

The moment dragged on. Double Trouble sighed and spun them around so their back was turned to Glimmer.

"Blink once for yes, twice for no."

There was a short silence. Double Trouble nodded, face neutral.

"That's settled, then. Let's see what else this day has to offer. FOLLOW!"

They walked away with long strides. Finn gave Glimmer a guilty look and trotted after, arms full of sweets.

"I'm cool," Glimmer grumbled to no one and trudged after them.

"Look!" Finn cried and pointed at a roped-in area where children were running around causing havoc with foam swords and a gaggle of worried-looking adults trying to prevent lasting damage. "Can I try?" Glimmer gave the swords a concerned look.

"I think that's for older kids, Finn..."

"A _cool_ aunt would let them," Double Trouble said with conversational voice, seemingly talking to thin air. Glimmer gave them an annoyed look which after a heartbeat shifted to a mischievous smile.

"Say 'thank you' to Double Trouble for taking you, Finn." She said and gave the kid an encouraging pat on the back. Finn lit up and gave Double Trouble a hard, sticky hug which for a moment caused Double Trouble to loose their balance.

"Hey, I didn't..."

"It is ever so nice of you," Glimmer said and disappeared. 

It wasn't even one of her instant poofs. She slowly faded out of view in a pink, sparkly haze with her smug smile being the last thing to go. Double Trouble had no idea how she pulled that off, it it was a new aspect of her princess powers or if it was the Mystacor brand of magic, but they recognized good showmanship when they saw it.

"Points to Sparkles," they muttered.

"What did you say?" Finn asked, not releasing them from the hug.

"I said, let's go cause some mayhem," Double Trouble said and led Finn by hand to the teenagers running the fighting ring.

"Huzzah to you, good ser. This here valiant knave wishes to learn the finer points of chivalry and thus wishes to partake in your rousing sport of valiant swordsmanship."

The teen, who was as used as Finn to adults being silly, ignored them and bent down to give the kid a smile.

"You want to be a knight then, kid?" Finn nodded eagerly. The teen handed them a sword.

"Right, what you have to remember is..." the teen went on to rattle of some safety instructions that Finn's already overexcited brain chose to translate into _Sword-sword-sword-sword-sword-sword-sword!_ , which seemed to cover the most important aspects. The teen gave them a short evaluating look, and then handed a second foam sword to Double Trouble.

"And of course you will have your squire to keep you safe and help you spar."

"I will?" the squire asked. "They will?" The knight squealed. "Awesome! Come on Double Trouble."

"All right kid, but remember to..."

"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"

From her hiding place by the fruit punch stand, Glimmer watched in satisfaction Finn gleefully chase Double Trouble around the enclosure, sword held as a club. The satisfaction didn't diminish in the least as Double Trouble eventually managed to contain the situation and started to teach Finn some of the basic of stage fencing. Soon they strutted back and forth in the enclosure, taking grand swipes at each others swords. 

Eventually Double Trouble tried to call it off by 'dying' and giving a melodramatic speech to the effect, but Finn did not want to hear of it and yelled them back up again to do a repeat performance. Double Trouble then thought they could tire Finn out by upping the tempo (rookie mistake), which only resulted in Finn being even less interested in letting the fun end. Double Trouble looked longingly at the candy stand, and was clearly about to resort to bribery when Glimmer decided that enough was enough. She strolled up to the enclosure.

"Hey, Finn," she called. They lit up.

"Auntie Glimmer! Look what I can do!" and they went through the routine agan with Double Trouble giving Glimmer a pleading look as they followed the steps.

"That's awesome!" Glimmer said. "Let me see you defeating them, and then it's time to go."

"NO! Not yet!"

"No? You don't want to see the surprise Double Trouble has for you, then?" Finn froze.

"What surprise?"

"If I tell you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" She shot Double Trouble a smug glance which they answered with a look that shifted between annoyed and thankful.

"Now, finish them off so we can get to the surprise."

Finn did't need any further prompting, and soon Double Trouble stood on one knee, bemoaning their cruel fate to have their unspecified evil plans be foiled in the last minute by such a brave knight while nursing only a slight pain in their head where Finn's overenthusiastic finishing blow had landed.

Glimmer applauded and they handed back the swords to the organizers. Finn looked expectantly at Double Trouble.

"Well, what's the surprise?"

"They will tell you soon enough," Glimmer interjected. "I promise you will like it. But first we need to clean you off and get some water and proper food in you. Come here."

With only a token of resistance, Finn followed her to a pump where they dutifully let Glimmer soak them and then had them run around to dry off. Double Trouble gave her an appreciating look.

"Masterful manipulation, my Queen. Dangling the reward in front of them, without specifying it but hinting enough of its splendor to have their own mind build it up by itself."

"You can't just dump all they want in the knee of a child and expect them to be able to sort it out by themselves. You need proper pacing." She smiled, obviously pleased with herself. "Something I had expect an _actor_ to know."

Double Trouble gave her an annoyed look and briefly morphed into Glimmer.

"Something I had expected an actor to know," they repeated in sarcastic voice, causing Glimmer to laugh. They morphed back into themselves.

"I will have you know I'm an _expert_ in proper pacing. I was merely waiting for the opportune moment to..."

"I'm _sure_ you were, oh master thespian. Not quite as simple when you don't have a different face to hide behind or a curtain to call between you and the audience, is it?" They snorted.

"I assume it will be up to me to figure out a surprise worthy of the expectations?" She gave them a sweet smile.

"Who else?"

Double Trouble grumbled something intelligible as Finn ran up to them, properly dried off.

"NOW can I have the surprise?"

"Not yet. First we eat." Glimmer produced a bag with some badly defined lumps consisting mostly of starch and fat. Finn eagerly started to eat, which gave them some much needed time to wind down. Double Trouble helped themselves, and for a few, happy moments they sat in the grass in silence.

"How have you been, Sparkles?" Double Trouble asked softly between bites. She edged closer.

"Keeping busy, queening, you know how it is." They nodded.

"It doesn't matter where I go, everyone is talking of how the princess alliance is rebuilding the world. Roads, canals, town halls, schools... you guys're keeping busy."

"You don't know half of it. Every time a stone is to be moved or placed, someone thinks of something to disagree on. And any time there is a disagreement, they come to me to whine about it."

"Such is the heavy mantle on the shoulders of the queen." She rolled her eyes.

"How have you been."

"Oh, just fine. Moving around, acting, causing trouble, enjoying the show. You know how it is."

She squeezed their hand. They both knew how it was. 

"Well, I'm glad the road brought you here," she said. 

"A day in Brightmoon is always a bright day." 

"That's even worse than the slogans the merchant's guild came up with," she giggled.

"Who do you think gave them the idea?"

"Not you, that's for sure. You wouldn't last five minutes in a guild meeting before you died from boredom."

"Oh, I'm never bored in these parts," Double Trouble smirked. Glimmer smiled back. They leaned in for a kiss.

"Tell me more about sword fighting!" Finn said with a mouth full of food. They knew that if you wanted to get something useful out of grownups you had to interrupt them before they got all smoochy. Double Trouble gave them an annoyed look.

"Can't you run and play on your own for a while, kid? Me and auntie Glimmer have grownup stuff to discuss." Finn grinned.

"What kind of grownup stuff?"

"The kind where we don't want nosy kids nosing around."

"Why not?"

"Because we want to be left alone."

"Why?"

"To not have to answer stupid questions."

"Why?"

"Because it's annoying."

"Why?"

Double Trouble hesitated. Clearly a new strategy was in order. They glanced at Glimmer who watched the exchange with an amused expression. Just as clearly, she was not going to help.

They caught Finn's eye and winked at them, then they morphed into a copy of Finn themselves.

"Because!" they smugly answered. Finn's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"Because."

" _Why?_ "

" _Because._ "

"That's not fair," Finn protested. Double Trouble gave them a wide grin with their own face.

"Why not?"

"HEY!"

"Whaaaat?"

"Stop that!"

"Why?"

"It's not funny?"

"Why?"

Finn gave Glimmer a pleading look.

"Auntie Glimmer, tell them to stop!"

Glimmer nodded to an enclosure some distance away where a couple of acrobats where halfway through a juggling show.

"You let us kiss in peace until they are finished with the show, then you come back and Double Trouble'll show you the secret. Deal"

Finn considered their options.

"Deal!" they cried and - sticking their tongue out to Double Trouble - ran over to the enclosure.

Double Trouble morphed back and gave Glimmer an adoring look.

"Watching a master diplomat in action is an experience that can't be put in words, my Queen."

"Shut up and kiss me already. I may have bought us time, but not much."

Double Trouble obliged. Finn rolled their eyes and resolutely turned their back to them.

_Grownups_

All too soon, the juggling was over and so was the kissing. The moment the last ball hit the ground, Finn was back with an eager expression.

"Well, Double Trouble? What's the surprise?" They emerged from Glimmer with a slightly disappointed expression.

"Surprise... yes, of course. Young cat person, prepare yourself. You will have the experience of a life time."

"I will?"

"Of course you will." Double Trouble stood up and pulled Glimmer with them. "Now tell me, young cat person, did you enjoy our gallant knightly play before?"

"They mean the sword fighting," Glimmer prompted. Finn gave her an annoyed look and nodded.

"Sure did. My mommies are knights," they proudly added. Double Trouble gave them a grin.

"And thus you will become a knight when you grow up, just like your dear mamas?"

"I would be the BEST knight," Finn said with 100% confidence. Double Trouble gave them an approving look.

"You could be that. Or you could become a wise ruler, like auntie Glimmer." (Glimmer blushed slightly). "You could even become a villain. Very popular occupation back in the day. But what if I told you there was a place where you could be it all?"

"What kind of place?"

"Why tell you, young cat person, when I can do better than that. I can _show_ you..." Double Trouble abruptly turned serious and bent forward, whispering conspiratorially to the kid.

"...but it might be dangerous. Are you sure you are brave enough?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Finn, protested. Glimmer hid a grin. She faked a concerned face and leaned in as well. 

"Double Trouble... are you _sure_ this won't be too scary? After all, they are still just a little kitten." Finn looked at her in utter betrayal.

" _Auntie Glimmer_. I'm a big kid now. Tell her, Double Trouble!" Double Trouble gave Glimmer a serious look.

"Glimmer. Finn here is not a mere kitten any more. They are seven years and eight months. _Eight months_ , Glimmer. You can't coddle them forever. It's time to let them face a big child's responsibilities and privileges." 

Glimmer sighed, just a tad melodramatically, and squeezed Finn's arm.

"I will support you whatever you do, as long as you are happy." She turned to Double Trouble. "All right, you have convinced me." Finn breathed out. "Show them.... the stage."

"The stage?" Finn asked.

"The Stage!" Double Trouble dramatically confirmed. "Follow!"

With long steps they walked away over the fair ground. Glimmer and Finn ran to keep up.

They came upon a large tent. There was a line forming by the entrance. Double Trouble looked both ways and nonchalantly stepped behind the tent. Surreptitiously they hooked the canvas with their tail and gestured to Finn.

"All right, in you go," they whispered. Finn watched the opening nervously and glanced at Glimmer.

"It's OK, she encouraged. I'll be with you."

Finn shot them a thankful look and together they crawled in under the canvas. Double Trouble followed. 

Inside the tent was... well, the inside of a tent. A row of benches took up half the space and a somewhat rickety stage the other. A simple canvas formed a curtain that was currently drawn. Double Trouble made some exaggerated gestures towards the end of the stage, and they crawled that way.

In their excitement, Finn did not reflect on the fact that they were perfectly visible, that no one cared and that they most likely would have been welcome through the opening just like everyone else. That wasn't the _point_.

Double Trouble tiptoed up to the curtain and peaked on the other side. With beating heart, Finn did the same.

On the other side of the curtain were... people.

Mostly grownups, but - Finn noted with interested - a few children as well. They were putting on costumes, leafing through papers, strutting back and forth, mumbling to themselves. 

It honestly didn't look that special, or even interesting.

Double Trouble nudged them and pointed at a short woman with a yellow dress.

"There's your knight. She's making herself ready for battle as we speak." Finn gave her a skeptical look, but Double Trouble was already pointing at the next person, a young lizard person with blueish scales. 

"There's the king. Kind in his way but a fool. A sharp player could easily out-manoeuvre him, and that would put the entire kingdom in danger." They gasped and squeezed Finn's arm. Finn tensed.

"There's our villain now!" They pointed at a kind looking actor who mumbled as they read their wad of paper. "Don't trust them for even a minute, they have the king fooled and will drag the kingdom into war if not for the valiant effort of... Ah! See those kids over there? They are the heroes."

Finn craned their neck to see. The kids didn't look out of the ordinary as far as they could tell (but then, Finn knew from their immediate family that real heroes often were hopelessly obtuse goofballs). In fact, the kids looked like the rather fun sort Finn wouldn't mind to play with. They hesitated and turned to Double Trouble.

"Isn't this just... a theater?" Double Trouble smiled a broad smile. 

"Aaaaah! I knew you would get it. Come. Let's get good seats."

They plopped down on the first bench of the front row. Finn sat between Glimmer and Double Trouble and was still trying to figure out exactly what Double Trouble had meant by their last statement. The changeling nudged them in the side.

"Look at the rest of the audience," they whispered. 

Finn did so. It was the same people they had seen all day at the fair. Some of them Finn even knew from earlier. Happy people, grumpy people, tired people... just people. They frowned.

"I don't get it."

"You will once the show start... ooooh! Here comes the announcer."

The curtains opened and the yellow-dressed woman welcomed them. Then someone started playing flute rather badly and the actor playing the king strutted onto the stage to start and long winded monologue. Finn was just about to loose interested when the villain entered. 

Finn draw a sharp breath. Gone where the kind demeanor they had seen behind the stage. Now the actor's features radiated menace and competence. The villain moved with precise, fluid movements, contrasting greatly with the bumbling steps of the king. Hardly listening to what they were saying, Finn felt the tension rise for every step that took the villain closer to the king. The king strutted back and forth. The villain displayed a much more conserved pattern of movement, somehow always needing one step to get closer to the king when he spent half a dozen steps moving from one end of the stage to the other. Finn started to be seriously worried for the old fool's safety when they suddenly noticed one of the heroes spying at the scene from behind an armchair. They breathed out. Double Trouble gave them a knowing smile and pointed behind them. Finn looked.

The rest of the audience were as transfixed as they had been. Every eye on the stage, everyone silent, everyone drinking in the show together.

"That's the magic," Double Trouble whispered. "For a little while, everyone come together and pretend that a stage is a castle, a young baker is a king and a fair vendor is a villain. A few cloth sacks, a straw wig and a foam sword and you can create the entire world."

"Wow..." Finn had seen theater before, of course. They often came to the castle and them and the other children there liked to watch. But they had never thought it the way Double Trouble described it. As the play moved on, Double Trouble whispered small comments on the acting, or the plot, or the stage techniques. Finn felt like a whole new world was opening for them. A world of secrets and excitement and adventure and...

"Do you want to join them?" Finn turned to look at Double Trouble with large eyes. They nodded at the stage where the heroes were sneaking over the stage, pretending to traversing a hidden tunnel under the castle. Finn nodded in silence. Double Trouble grinned and, taking their hand, dragged them to the end of the stage where the child actors just turned to sneak another round over the stage. Double Trouble nodded at them and pointed with their thumb at Finn. One of the kids grinned in response and bent down, hand outstretched. Finn hesitated for a moment. Double Trouble gave them a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder and lifted them up so they could easily grab the hand.

Finn did.

The next twenty or so seconds were seconds Finn would never forget. How they followed the other kids through the tunnel, how they spied the villain through a secret spy hole, how Finn, _Finn_ got to be the one to run offstage to warn the knight... while at the same time also being acutely aware of the entire audience watching them, experiencing the story together with them and gasping in excitement together with them. Glimmer proudly looked at them from the front bench.

When Double Trouble had helped Finn down from the stage (and they had run backstage to deliver the message to the bemused knight) they returned to their seats. Finn watched the rest of the play in the content haze of someone who has done their contribution, done it well and now saw their labor give fruit.

Glimmer and Double Trouble had squeezed close to be able do some sort of grownup foolishness behind their back, but Finn didn't mind. They were warm and their stomach were full and all the excitement of the day started to make them drowsy. Finn snuggled down between the adults with a happy meow and started to purr. 

Glimmer gave Double Trouble a long look, full of unsaid communication.

"No," they simply answered. She sighed.

When the play was over they left the tent and Finn was astonished to see the sun still shining as bright as it did before they left. They could have sworn it would have been night. They were still tired their head was full of impressions, so they didn't say much. The grownups seemed to understand, or at least be happy to have some time for each other. They slowly strolled through the fairground until they reached the gate.

"Very well," Glimmer said. "It's time for us to get back to the castle, and I'm sure there's a stage waiting for you somewhere."

"The world is my stage," Double Trouble said with melodramatic voice, earning them an eye roll. Double Trouble bowed to Finn with flourished movements. 

"Until next time... adieu, young cat person." Finn waved back at them, somewhat shyly. 

Glimmer took the shapeshifter by the hands and gave them long kiss. 

"Scoundrel."

"Sparkles."

"Until next time."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Glimmer took Finn's hand and they started walking back towards the castle. When Finn turned to look for Double Trouble, they were gone.

"Did you have fun today?" Glimmer asked. Finn nodded without answering.

"Tummy hurts?"

"A bit..."

Glimmer smiled at them.

"As long as you had fun that's OK. Wouldn't want you to have tummy ache for nothing." Finn gave them a thankful look.

"Auntie Glimmer..."

"Yes, Finn?"

"I _do_ think you are cool." Glimmer laughed.

"It's very nice of you to say so."

She let the ' _but you are a bad liar_ ' remain unsaid. Finn was still young. They had a long time to learn the finer arts of etiquette.

"Want me to teleport you back to the castle? We should put you in a bath." Finn shook their head.

"Not yet."

"Sure."

"Auntie Glimmer...

"Yes?"

"How do you become an actor?"


End file.
